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  Straits Times 5 Jul 07
'Recycle' messages everywhere but where are the recycling bins?
Letter from Ng Wang Feng (Ms)

WE ARE reminded daily that the Live Earth concerts are scheduled to happen within one week from now, thanks to, of many different things, the oft-aired TV adverts of MediaCorp male artistes in white tops and female artistes seemingly topless.

Let's take a step back and ask ourselves, as a country, do we really care about the environment, about climate change and about the three Rs - reuse, recycle, reduce?

Just last week, I took a good friend visiting from Japan to the Night Safari. During the 'Creatures of the Night Show', one of the crowd-pleasing segments showed the otters putting in a plastic bottle a tin can and a paper carton (or something similar) in the appropriate recycling bins.

The irony of it all was that recycling facilities were nowhere to be seen at our top-notch tourist attraction. I was told that plans to provide recycling bins were under way. Interestingly, why weren't these in place from the beginning? Better late than never though.

To be fair, the Night Safari is just one of many tourist attractions, shopping centres, MRT stations, et cetera, that are not equipped with recycling facilities.

I wonder if we really care about switching to re-usable coffee filters so we don't fill up our already-inadequate landfills.

Take a walk down a busy street, or any stretch of our tropical beaches, before the road sweepers and cleaners get there, and you'll see the trash we conveniently leave behind.

And finally, with our yearly NDP bash round the corner, it's time to imagine how much trash our patriotic counterparts will leave behind after the big celebration. Where are the signs of caring for the three Rs?

Maybe Live Earth will trigger a positive shift in our attitudes towards the environment. Maybe through music, we'll finally reach that critical mass of people needed to make a dramatic change for the better. In this case, we are ready for Live Earth. Bring it on!
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